Today, Sept. 11, 2021, I participated in one of nearly 100 peaceful protests taking place across France in opposition to the health pass and vaccine mandates. I went for several reasons aside from the obvious one of walking in solidarity with my fellow humans concerned with the astonishing losses of liberty taking place across the planet.
I also went to prove to myself that I could; after nearly two years of fear-mongering, lockdowns and attestations required to leave home, my pre-existing tendency to hermit myself away has only devolved into a near-agoraphobia. Despite my nerves, I also I went to see with my own eyes the size and shape that a French demonstration takes and to let my friends back home know, from 1st hand experience, what’s really going on here.
It was a positive atmosphere of friendly people. Though I have now seen news reports of tear gas being used in Paris, this demonstration was quite tame. I really only saw one onlooker who was shooting us poison arrows with her glare from a platform above us, likely thinking we were actually doing this out of pure self-concern and not concern for the world her children will live in. I could almost hear her inner dialogue:
Those disease-spreading lunatics are going to kill us all. What a bunch of selfish, evil criminals. I hope they all drop dead from Covid.
I’m not sure what the numbers were. I’m guessing near to just over 1000, and that was just in the rather small capital city of the Charentes, Angoulême. So considering that there were several such demonstrations in Paris alone with unquestionably much larger crowds, multiplied by 100 organized protests all across the country…well, you do the estimation. Regardless, it’s probably a lot more than will ever be reported by the mainstream media who states 140,000.
For an introvert like myself, it was an energetic and noisy affair bound to be feeding the extroverts among us as it slowly drained my own reserves. There were horns and rattles and drums and whistles, and voices raised in song and even pots and pans. I loved the pots and pans. I remember once reading that villagers in Tibet would go out with their pots and pans and bang them to rid the streets of evil spirits. The amplitude certaintly would have achieved that today. I just wish it wasn’t still ringing in my ears!
What struck me as odd was stopping in front of the prefecture, shut for the weekend to sing and demonstrate. As there was no one inside to witness all the flag-waving and song-singing, it all felt pretty surreal and brought it home for me just how out-of-touch leadership truly is and has been for decades with the people they are meant to serve.
Sure, you can do your little pantomime. Just do it on a weekend when your cries can be easily ignored.
Sadly what I mostly felt was that this parade of sorts was taking place within the same control structure that it wants so desperately to exit. There were permits, no doubt, and plain-clothed and uniformed officers, and the crowd was pretty much herded through the streets, safely corraled.
Don’t get me wrong. I appreciated the civility and have no objection to something being kept harmonious. In fact, violence truly only ends up serving those who abuse power anyway. But I just couldn’t seem to summon the hope and inspiration that I was expecting to feel. Even the mantra of ‘Liberté!’ felt a bit incomplete on its own. “As one of my dear friends said recently, “They all shout ‘Liberté!’ which is great, but there’s no liberty without equality and fraternity.” All three are needed for a truly free society.
All that said, I am so grateful to the thousands that are showing up to do this, week after week. I’m glad that they are “making noise”. I’m glad that they are speaking out. I’m glad there are people who care! It is a necessary endeavor…just not one I feel the need to share in again at this point. I’m not sure whether my time has simply not yet come or whether my work is to be done on quite a different dimension…maybe a little of both.
I’m glad I went, though. I’m grateful for the experience. And it seemed a rather fitting way to remember the confusing tragedy of 9-11, which was used to usher in so much loss of liberty in the first place, making our current global situation possible. I think those who perished that day would have approved.